Only this forum can appreciate my frustration

[Baseball]

First post from a long-time viewer who appreciates the information and entertainment provided by this forum's members.


My son was involved in an accident (no injuries, car totaled) late last year. Because the at-fault carrier was slow to accept liability (though it ultimately did), my son needed to use my daily driver for a few weeks and I was forced to press my Camaro into winter service here in NW Ohio with its salt-laden roads.


My son now has a replacement vehicle. This past weekend, I wanted to have the underside of my Camaro sprayed with fresh water to remove as much salt as I could before I proceeded to fully hand wash it during a 50 degree, beautiful day.


Several years ago, I had purchased and applied Tred Wear raised white letters on all my tires. A close up photo of one of the tires is below. They have adhered without fail the entire time, and are one of my favorite low-cost mods to my car.


As I was entering the car wash for my underside spray, I noticed the guiding track for the driver-side tires as they enter the car wash. I considered pulling off to the side and abandoning the entire idea, but then thought that my tire letters would probably be fine.


I was wrong. Really wrong. When I got home, I realized the left front tire's letters were 80% torn off, and the left rear letters badly damaged as well. I was fuming, entirely at myself for not just avoiding the car wash once I saw the tire guides. Can't blame the car wash.


I removed (with a needle-nose pliers) the remnants of the raised white letters on the driver's side of my car, but have not yet removed them from the passenger side. I will likely replace them, but it does take a significant amount of time to carefully line them up individually and keep them straight before the adhesive dries.


I am old school in that I like the look of RWL. I attached a couple of photos for comparison of the RWL versus the blackwalls.



I tell this story to others who are not into cars and they kind of shrug their shoulders. I guess I'm maybe just looking for some empathy...

[Sozo]

yea I worry about car washes with mine ..wont go near them 99% of the time they seem to work great but I have seen some real damage done before too ..on the bright side I really like the looks of your white letters ...think I may get some for my car ! Did you use the send in a rubbing option ?

[Baseball]

yea I worry about car washes with mine ..wont go near them 99% of the time they seem to work great but I have seen some real damage done before too ..on the bright side I really like the looks of your white letters ...think I may get some for my car ! Did you use the send in a rubbing option ?

I recall that Tred Wear already had the letter/size specifications for the Firestone Firehawk tires, so I didn't need to submit a rubbing or etching. The letters were an exact match for the sidewall letter outlines. Makes it much easier to line them up during application.

[hammdo]

I have that 69 JB card — also in silver and bronze!

I avoid automatic car washes and just do it myself. Those car washes are not designed for our cars and wide tires...

Like the old school look of the tires!

-Don

[samman11]

Well, car washes have very powerful brushes and sprays. Since you put the letters on yourself, there's no way you should have chanced them not coming off, especially as time goes by and the glue dries out. The other question is why did your son's insurance not cover him for a rental car while the issue of blame was being determined? What if he didn't have "daddy" to go to? Time to switch insurance companies. No way I'm pulling out my stored Camaro in the winter UNLESS Jesus himself comes off the cross to ask for it. Even then, I have to THINK about it!

[JoelNR]

Originally Posted by samman11

Well, car washes have very powerful brushes and sprays. Since you put the letters on yourself, there's no way you should have chanced them not coming off, especially as time goes by and the glue dries out. The other question is why did your son's insurance not cover him for a rental car while the issue of blame was being determined? What if he didn't have "daddy" to go to? Time to switch insurance companies. No way I'm pulling out my stored Camaro in the winter UNLESS Jesus himself comes off the cross to ask for it. Even then, I have to THINK about it!

Not OP but I had an accident in a newer car that took nearly 7 weeks to fix. I'm insured pretty well but even then the plan I had only covered my rental for the first 30 days. After that I was on my own.

Luckily, I don't live paycheck to paycheck and had no problem swinging the rental for that period of time. However, I could easily see it becoming a problem for some.

On top of that the at fault party was underinsured. So even though I knew I would get the money back in the end it still took 13 months before I had a check from the other driver's insurance company in my hands.

[samman11]

Originally Posted by JoelNR

Not OP but I had an accident in a newer car that took nearly 7 weeks to fix. I'm insured pretty well but even then the plan I had only covered my rental for the first 30 days. After that I was on my own.

Luckily, I don't live paycheck to paycheck and had no problem swinging the rental for that period of time. However, I could easily see it becoming a problem for some.

On top of that the at fault party was underinsured. So even though I knew I would get the money back in the end it still took 13 months before I had a check from the other driver's insurance company in my hands.

I'm going to be looking into my insurance now that I hear these stories. So many scenarios that one has to look at. But if not at fault, no way should someone have to pay out of pocket for a rental.

[Centauri]

I am replying just to say this: that lettering looks great, huge, huge plus to the overall look of your ride. Would be worth it to redo.

[CamaroJim56]

Won't go in the ones with guides with my car. Only the moving belts.

[Moto-Mojo]

You have my empathy. I’m pretty anal about mine too. So much so, I would NEVER EVEN CONSIDER an automated car wash! I suspect you won’t again either. I might even have rented my son a car, not sure. Sorry, man.

[gringo]

I think the RWL's coming off your tires is the least of your problems. I'd start thinking about trying to fix those paint chips around the wheel well edge before they begin to rust. Yikes!

[Rock-It Man]

I don't understand why you didn't rent a car. Wasn't it covered by insurance?

[redcoats1976]

yeah,that sucks.i like the old school look of RWL tires myself,you would think some tire makers would go back to it instead of having to glue them on.id pay 5 bucks more per tire to have them.

[TheFlyingBananaSS]

I had someone try to steal my Camaro. Gouges in the door, lock mangled, paint scratched up. I told my friend at the shop no rush since it's winter and I have my blazer. Well 6 weeks later I get my car back and the guy only charges me $500 complete job! And to top that off, he had a paintless dent guy come in and fix a dent in the opposite side door! Unbelievable! And that's why all my work, my son's work, and my friends work goes to him. He's really busy all the time but with service like this, I'll wait!